“No!” Doms cried out. “That's not true.” She stared with glazed eyes at the pieces of the vial on her palms while its contents, if it was really water, slipped through her fingers, dripping to the floor. She was oblivious to a couple of monsters crawling towards her.

“Aunt Pino!”

“Yeah, I see them.”

“Come on. We save Mommy.”

“Fucking goblin kid,” I spat out, not at Lizzie but at a monster child that blocked us. I aimed my gun at it, but Lizzie got to it first, kicking it aside.

“Go away!”

“The fuck?” I said. The goblin kid tumbled several feet from the kick, right into a pack of monsters ravenously eating Stella’s men. It was also added to their menu.

Lizzie then picked up a broken piece of the marble flooring and threw it at the monsters near her mother. The head of a mangy goatman snapped back, the piece exploding upon hit. She was becoming freakishly strong. The monster gang turned their attention to her.

I rushed forward, knelt on the floor to steady my aim, and sprayed them with bullets. I hit the closest one squarely on the center of its bulbous head. I tried aiming as best I could, going for the clumps of red color in their bodies. It was fucking hard controlling the gun with recoil. “Fuck, sorry,” I said under my nonexistent breath when I nicked Doms’ armor a couple of times. “They’re so close to her.”

“Don’t touch Mommy!” Lizzie also helped out by throwing chunks of the floor at them, driving them away.

“They’re gone. Go, go!”

“Mommy!”

“Doms, are you all right?” I said. A stupid question but I was required by ‘good guy’ law to ask it. Part of her craggy helmet was cracked. Pieces of it fell off, revealing half of her bruised face with strands of her hair matted by sweat and blood.

“I need to get that cure!” She trembled as she tried to push herself up. Her arms surrendered, and she collapsed in a heap. “That woman…”

“Don’t move,” I said, “or you’ll hurt yourself more.”

“She must be…hiding it,” she insisted, still in denial.

“You’re terribly injured. You have to stay still.” I wasn’t a doctor, but I knew that despite a tough as heck exterior, she was still a squishy human inside. Which meant that Stella’s hits surely did a number on her body. Just like having concussions when the brain gets sloshed inside the skull by heavy impacts, vibrations from each blow certainly hurt Doms even if her armor was still mostly intact.

“I…ugh…there has to be a cure.”

“You rest, Mommy.” Lizzie hugged Doms. I noticed her hair, which was a shade lighter than her mother’s brown, was growing longer and turning ghostly white at its roots. The skin on the back of her small hand had streaks of purplish gray, starting to flake and forming a patchwork of scales.

“Lizzie…don’t get close. You’ll get hurt…sharp… the armor.

“No! I’ll stay here with you.” She coughed violently. Flecks of blood sprayed on Doms’ white chest plate.

“Sweetie…”

“It hurts, Mommy.”

“I’m sorry…” Tears streamed down Doms bloodshot eye that wasn’t covered by her broken helmet.

Lizzie shook her head. “It’s not your fault. The bad lady did this to me.” I could tell from her voice, which was beginning to sound demonic, she was trying to stop herself from crying. “Where’s Daddy?”

“It'll be…okay.”

“Tell Daddy to buy medicine.”

“I will, sweetie.”

“Buy medicine for…you.”

Doms closed her eyes.

“Mommy! Don’t do what grandma did!” Lizzie grabbed my arm. Her nails grew long and sharp, scraping my metal skin. “Aunt Pino, please help Mommy.”

If I abandoned Doms and focused my powers on either Ramon or Paolo, we’d have a chance of injuring Stella. Who knew, maybe we could beat her on the unlikely chance she insisted on playing around and not using her powers.

However, I, Pino, the one and only good Adumbrae, the Adumbrae that helps and saves people, won’t let my companion die if I could help it. Until the last moments of my transformation, I had the face of a hero, and a hero I shall be! Furthermore, I spent a crapton of effort keeping Doms alive. “I’m going to help your Mommy with everything I can.”

Lizzie mumbled something, which was probably ‘thank you’. She gave me a pained smile, gratitude was on her emerald snake eyes. Those were glowing now. Sweat covered her forehead, two nubs pushed out of her temples, probably growing into horns. She slowly dropped down on her mother’s lap.

I pumped Doms with more and more healing power. This was going to eventually have a negative effect, but I figured she’d want to continue fighting for her daughter until the bitter end—which was pretty near. There might be no way to reverse her daughter’s monsterification, but it would be good to at least have a semblance of revenge. Hurting Stella, even just a teensy-weensy bit, was better than nothing. I was certain her husband, my pal, Cesar, would approve of this. Go down fighting and all that crap.

“What’s happening?” Doms said, beginning to recuperate. Wait…no!”

“Calm down,” I said. “I’m doing the bes—"

“You still have powers?”

“Yes, but I—”

“Heal Lizzie!”

“Lizzie? How about yo—"

“Don’t heal me! Save your powers for her.”

I actually half-made up my mind to throw Lizzie as far away as I could before she started attacking us. But although I wasn’t well-versed in family matters, I had a hunch Doms would prefer Lizzie stay by her side even if she turned into a monster. “I’m not sure what I can do for her,” I honestly replied. The red color of the parasite inside Lizzie expanded from nape of her neck up the back of her head. “I should heal you instead.”

“No!” Doms shoved me. “Do anything for Lizzie, please!”

“The parasite has taken root in her spine and is spreading to her brain...maybe replacing it. I don’t think we can do anything at this point.”

“I will kill it...”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

Doms sat straight up, having recovered some strength. She examined Lizzie who curled on her lap, hugging herself and shuddering from pain. “Tell me where it is. I’ll do it.”

“Do what? You’re going to try to kill it?”

“Yes!”

“Kill it while it’s embedded in her brain? Are you insane?”

“Here?” Doms swept away Lizzie’s mostly white hair, exposing the back of her neck.

“Hold on!” This was too crazy, even for me. “Even if you kill it, we don’t know what will happen to Lizzie.”

She held the blade on her gauntlet right below her daughter’s hairline. “But if we don’t do anything, she’ll completely become one of those monsters,” she said. Despair was making her voice crack.

“There’s no guarantee she’ll return to human after.”

“I know. I’ll take care of her. Hide her from the BID, I’ll figure it out.”

“And you might kill her too.”

“Heal her. We’re wasting time. I’m going to do it.”

“Uh…if that’s what you want.” I myself sometimes dabble in the realm of bad ideas, but this one was exceptionally bad. That fricking thing was already part of Lizzie’s brain. If she started to attack us, I was leaving them both.

“I’ll kill the parasite, and you heal my baby at the same time.”

(Aaarggh! Pino! Out of the way.) Ramon bounced off the spot where I was a split-second before Doms pulled me towards her. He came to a stop as his body smashed against the wall. “Fucking hell,” he said. He managed to stand up again, black blood covered his body like he took a bath of squid ink. “We can’t win this. Just run with Doms.” He pointed at the door. “I’ll put my life on the line to hold Stella.”

Life? That might do it.

“I know my job was to save Paolo...but I can’t get him from her.”

“Had enough?” Stella called from the other side of the room. Her hand was around Paolo's neck. “Can you just give it a rest?” He kept on trying to escape despite being knocked out cold because I was controlling him. I was certain she wouldn’t kill him so she wouldn't be able to stop him unless she beat him up so bad he couldn’t move. I doubted she’d go that far. 

“Tell Julie I’m sorry,” Ramon said. “Now, go—huh?” He checked himself, no doubt feeling the surge of energy. The vents lining his blade pumped out more black smoke. Purple flames erupted all over his body, exploding out of his wounds. “What’s happening?”

“I’m going to focus my power on you—”

“No! What about Lizzie?” Doms said. Her armor crumbled, exposing the sorry state of her body. But I left her with her bladed gauntlet.

“Go!” I urged Ramon. He nodded, gave Doms a hesitant look, then sprinted off to fight Stella.

Doms grabbed my arm. “You can’t do this! Don’t leave my baby to die.”

“No amount of healing can help if you rip that thing from inside her brain,” I said truthfully. “Remember that I couldn’t save Paolo’s dad? This is way worse.”

“She’ll become a full monster soon! Is it because I was going to leave you? I’m really sorry for that—”

“That’s not it. There’s a way to save her. However…”

“What is it? I’ll do anything! I’ll give my life for her.”

I nodded.

"Huh?"

"Your life..."

“You mean to say you can save her with my life?”

“Yes, but—”

“I’ll do it!” she said. “I’m going to kill that thing inside of my baby, and you give her my life force or whatever.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” She already made an incision at the base of Lizzie’s head. “Baby, be brave,” she said to her unconscious daughter. “You’ll be…fine…”

Thick black liquid seeped out, almost like tar. Tiny tentacles that looked like clumps of spaghetti burst out of the wound, widening it. Doms stabbed and pulled them out. I stared with morbid fascination. There was a phase in high school where it became a trend to watch gross medical operations on the internet, just like popping massive pus-filled boils or pulling out gigantic splinters; this reminded me of that time. But this topped all of those videos combined. Fortunately, I didn’t have a stomach or I would be certainly be puking right now.

Doms kept on repeating, “Be brave,” to Lizzie as she extracted the parasite.

It wasn’t going down without a fight. The parasite was in survival mode, eating the body around it to evolve itself, ready to abandon its host. The tentacles grew and Doms cut them down. Lizzie’s green color was fading.

“Just a bit more,” I said. I didn’t mention that Lizzie was also dying; Doms already knew that. “Continue what you’re doing. I’ll prepare for…it…now.”

I connected the finger that exchanges life force to Doms and Lizzie. I had only used it once, when I forced some dude to give his life to completely heal Cesar by threatening to kill his girlfriend. I was surprised that the guy agreed.

I didn’t like this finger because I couldn’t relate to its use. There was no way I’d willingly give my life for others—the requirement of this power. Maybe, SpookyErind added this power to make me uncomfortable. Just like it was normal to be bothered by something we couldn’t understand, I was bothered by this.

Which was weird. I normally didn’t care for other people’s decisions. But there was just something I couldn’t accept with sacrificing your own life for others.

“It’s dead,” I said.

“Pino…” Doms cradled Lizzie. She was shriveled, the parasite having eaten a large chunk of her flesh to try and save itself. They were surrounded by a pool of black blood and mounds of tentacles that you wouldn’t expect to have come out of Lizzie’s small body. “Please…”

“Say your goodbye and close your eyes.”

“I love you, Lizzie. We’ll meet again someday."

Lizzie feebly stirred.

"Mommy and Daddy will look over you.”

“I’m going to do it now. You’re daughter will live, I promise.”

“Promise me too that you’ll take care of her.”

I didn’t reply. The fuck was I going to do with a half-monster kid?

“Pino.”

“I will,” I said, despite of myself. I was hero Pino until the end.

Doms closed her eyes and I transferred her life to her daughter just before her green color completely became gray.

 

---

 

I stared at Doms’ lifeless body next to my feet. Her fully recovered daughter, blanketed by a shade of bright green, laid unconscious on top of her, continuing their last embrace. Lizzie hadn’t woken up yet. She had small horns, patches of beautiful purple scales. The black blood seemed to slide right off her white hair that had grown as long as her body.

I don’t know what will happen to you, I said. I may have promised Doms to care of her, but that was as Pino. And Pino was going to disappear soon.

My eyes swept the room, taking in the scene of the riot of abominable monsters, once my fellow residents whom I didn’t feel any shred of connection with, tearing each other apart as they fought over the tasty banquet that was the last remaining grunts of Stella. Those men hastily built a mini fort with tables and machines at the right side of the room by the bar. They desperately fought back, but for every monster they gunned down, two more would jump at them, and the monster they shot would also get up, the parasite taking over its body.

Those two dicks, Finlay and Calder were nowhere to be found. I was sure I hadn’t seen the last of them.

The tall windows were shattered by the fight of Paolo and Ramon against Stella. Ramon getting a power up finally forced Stella to use her powers. Most of her clothes were torn or burned away, revealing her skin that was becoming the color and texture of a gargoyle's. Her muscles were abnormally defined, as if she was a sculpture of an extremely ripped woman with no skin.

Ramon, even with his enhanced strength, couldn't press his advantage because Stella was using Paolo's body as a shield. She caught him with a kick that slammed him against the massive vine covering the balcony.

“Okay!" Stella said. "That was fun. But we need to wrap this up now. Who’s still alive? The twins?” She spotted me. “Oho! You didn't run away? I had a hunch you didn’t have any combat capabilities or you would’ve joined the fight by now.”

I remained silent as I stared at my hands. They were beginning to fade.

“What are you going to do now?”

I shrugged. There was nothing I could do anymore. My time was up.

Saving Lizzie using the life force of Doms looked like as good of an ending as I could hope for my Pino face. Tragic, but still uplifting, with tones of self-sacrifice and bravery; not on my part though. Still, Lizzie was going to die here, and so would Ramon and Paolo. If she somehow survived, the BID would capture her and most likely kill her.

I looked up at the ceiling. The chandeliers above were beautiful. There was an uneasy disappointment in my heart. Ending it like this was unsatisfying.

At least I should say a cool line before I go.

“Is the building shaking again?” Stella said. “That fucking Bob! What the goddamn hell is that dimwit doing?”

The floor was indeed quaking. I lost my balance and fell on my metal ass. The fuck was going on?

In answer to my question, a large pillar broke out of the floor, growing upwards. Then, the door behind me banged open, the heavy wooden panels knocked off their hinges.

A huge tree monster entered, reminding me of that bitch Myra. There was a horde of monsters coming up behind it.

Brand new shit was going down, and I wasn’t staying around for this.

I was disappearing in the wind. Yes! Get me out of here! "Adios, motherfuckers!" I cringed at my bad line.

The tree monster bounded forward then threw a box towards Stella. I was able to get a good glimpse of the monsters wide back. It carried three people wrapped in tendrils and vines like they were its backpack. One was Julie, next to her was a familiar looking guy, and the last person was…

My body?! “Why is that here?”